Foreclosures Drop to Lowest Level Since Great Recession

Foreclosures Drop to Lowest Level Since Great Recession

Daily Real Estate News |
Friday, May 30, 2014

Over the last 12 months, completed foreclosures have fallen to the lowest level since the Great Recession began in 2007, according to CoreLogic’s April National Foreclosure Report, which shows completed foreclosures fell to 599,000 nationwide.

Completed foreclosures – the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure – was 46,000 nationally in April, down 18 percent from April 2013. Foreclosures still remain elevated by historical standards. Before the housing decline in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month between 2000 and 2006.

Since September 2008, there has been about 5 million completed foreclosures nationwide.

In April, about 694,000 homes were still in some stage of foreclosure, known as foreclosure inventory. Inventory levels are down 35 percent year-over-year. The foreclosure inventory in April represented 1.8 percent of all homes with a mortgage, according to CoreLogic’s report.

At the current pace, “it will take 14 months to move all of the foreclosed inventory through the pipeline,” says Sam Khater, deputy chief economist for CoreLogic.

“We have now registered two and a half years of continuous decreases in the number of home owners who are in some stage of the foreclosure process,” adds Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “This consistent decline means fewer Americans are experiencing the distress of delinquency and default.”

Every state – except for New York and the District of Columbia – reported double-digit year-over-year decreases in foreclosures, according to CoreLogic.

The following five states have the highest foreclosure inventory (as percentage of all mortgaged homes):

New Jersey: 6%

Florida: 5.4%

New York: 4.6%

Hawaii: 3.1%

Maine: 3%

Meanwhile, the five states with the lowest foreclosure inventories are Alaska (0.4%); Wyoming (0.4%); North Dakota (0.5%); Nebraska (0.5%); and Minnesota (0.5%), according to CoreLogic’s April report.